Elena Rybakina has not lost on clay in 374 days and that doesn't look like being broken anytime soon as she surged past
Mayar Sherif to reach the Last 16 at the
Madrid Open winning 6-1, 6-4.
Comprising 14 straight wins since last season, Rybakina of course missed Roland Garros so her run stretches back to Rome, Stuttgart this year and now Madrid. She sealed the win in just over an hour and a half. Now Sara Bejlek awaits in the Quarter-Finals. She took down Ashlyn Krueger to begin today. The Czech ace had taken out one of the main seeds in that section in Anna Kalinskaya blowing it wide open.
Hitting so clean, she took the first set in rampant fashion 6-1. Albeit due to Sherif sticking in on her serve, it lasted the same time as the second which was completed 6-4. At one point Rybakina was 5-0 up on Sherif in the opening set and despite one game going the way of the Egyptian, it was very much continued plain sailing for the Kazakh.
The second set saw her break for the only time at the start of the set claiming it 2-1 and going into the lead. She did spurn four match points as Sherif would've been questioning, could she revive her fortunes? But she couldn't as Rybakina finally took the win narrowly and moves on. Continued clay court excellence from the Ice Queen who certainly has ice in her veins this fortnight on the clay.